Marc Roscoe Loustau
@attheedges.bsky.social
Official BlueSky account of Substack newsletter "At the edges, with Marc Loustau." https://marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/
"In a world on fire, hopeful storytelling about global politics, culture, and the edges of faith."
"In a world on fire, hopeful storytelling about global politics, culture, and the edges of faith."
“At the Edges” is grateful to its engaged and dedicated subscribers!
November 30, 2025 at 8:05 PM
“At the Edges” is grateful to its engaged and dedicated subscribers!
This month, Hanna Szenes, a Hungarian Jewish paratrooper who fought behind Nazi lines, finally got a Times obituary; but the article has little about Hungary's Jewish community today. What do Hungarian Jews think about a famous native daughter?
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/hanna-szen...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/hanna-szen...
November 28, 2025 at 12:03 PM
This month, Hanna Szenes, a Hungarian Jewish paratrooper who fought behind Nazi lines, finally got a Times obituary; but the article has little about Hungary's Jewish community today. What do Hungarian Jews think about a famous native daughter?
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/hanna-szen...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/hanna-szen...
Hungary's PM jets off to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin, today November 28. Why? @euobserver.com quoted my analysis in today's issue.
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
Orbán bypassing EU diplomacy with new Moscow trip to see Putin
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán is again bypassing EU diplomacy on Ukraine by going for another meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow, according to media reports.
euobserver.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Hungary's PM jets off to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin, today November 28. Why? @euobserver.com quoted my analysis in today's issue.
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
Trump ambassador pick for #Hungary has close ties to Israeli extremists. Nominee Benjamin Landa says far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, once convicted of supporting terrorist groups, should be Prime Minister. What does Hungary's Jewish community think?
balkaninsight.com/2025/11/26/t...
balkaninsight.com/2025/11/26/t...
November 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Trump ambassador pick for #Hungary has close ties to Israeli extremists. Nominee Benjamin Landa says far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, once convicted of supporting terrorist groups, should be Prime Minister. What does Hungary's Jewish community think?
balkaninsight.com/2025/11/26/t...
balkaninsight.com/2025/11/26/t...
Stay or go? Intellectuals in 1930s Germany faced this question. Czech dissidents faced it from behind the Iron Curtain. Now it’s the US’s turn. What is life in exile like today? See the latest edition of "At the Edges, with Marc Loustau."
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/wanna-get-...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/wanna-get-...
November 25, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Stay or go? Intellectuals in 1930s Germany faced this question. Czech dissidents faced it from behind the Iron Curtain. Now it’s the US’s turn. What is life in exile like today? See the latest edition of "At the Edges, with Marc Loustau."
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/wanna-get-...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/wanna-get-...
In the face of the pandemic of angst and anxiety, is there an example of an individual’s search for consolation that might inspire and guide us today?
“The search for what heals us,” in today’s edition of the “At the Edges” newsletter on Substack.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/the-search...
“The search for what heals us,” in today’s edition of the “At the Edges” newsletter on Substack.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/the-search...
November 20, 2025 at 10:59 AM
In the face of the pandemic of angst and anxiety, is there an example of an individual’s search for consolation that might inspire and guide us today?
“The search for what heals us,” in today’s edition of the “At the Edges” newsletter on Substack.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/the-search...
“The search for what heals us,” in today’s edition of the “At the Edges” newsletter on Substack.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/the-search...
#adorno didn't like #mahler's 8th: "The tone of strained gaiety no more actualizes joy than the word gaudeamus; the thematic fulfillments announced too eagerly by the gestures of fulfilling do not materialize.”
Add a self-affirmation T-shirt slogan instead of gaudeamus, it's a powerful critique.
Add a self-affirmation T-shirt slogan instead of gaudeamus, it's a powerful critique.
November 18, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Marc Roscoe Loustau
Writer Tom Montgomery Fate chats with Jon about the peaceful protests at the ICE facility in Broadview, IL, where several faith leaders were recently arrested.
youtu.be/bKGNh_WmvGY
youtu.be/bKGNh_WmvGY
The religious significance of Chicago ICE protests
YouTube video by The Christian Century
youtu.be
November 17, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Writer Tom Montgomery Fate chats with Jon about the peaceful protests at the ICE facility in Broadview, IL, where several faith leaders were recently arrested.
youtu.be/bKGNh_WmvGY
youtu.be/bKGNh_WmvGY
Reposted by Marc Roscoe Loustau
“The occupation is best understood as Christians punishing Christians who refuse to say the Russian invasion is divinely sanctioned.”
– @attheedges.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/pas...
– @attheedges.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/pas...
Pastors in exile
Clergy who have fled Russian-occupied Ukraine are finding new ways to provide pastoral care for parishioners who are still...
www.christiancentury.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“The occupation is best understood as Christians punishing Christians who refuse to say the Russian invasion is divinely sanctioned.”
– @attheedges.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/pas...
– @attheedges.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/pas...
My article about Ukrainian pastors who fled Russian-occupied territory and the apps they use.
Not only do these ministers do pastoral care with people still behind the front line, they also taught me about resisting #authoritarianism. New in the @christiancentury.bsky.social: "Pastors in exile."
Not only do these ministers do pastoral care with people still behind the front line, they also taught me about resisting #authoritarianism. New in the @christiancentury.bsky.social: "Pastors in exile."
November 15, 2025 at 1:46 PM
My article about Ukrainian pastors who fled Russian-occupied territory and the apps they use.
Not only do these ministers do pastoral care with people still behind the front line, they also taught me about resisting #authoritarianism. New in the @christiancentury.bsky.social: "Pastors in exile."
Not only do these ministers do pastoral care with people still behind the front line, they also taught me about resisting #authoritarianism. New in the @christiancentury.bsky.social: "Pastors in exile."
Listening to Mahler 9, the first movement. This feels accurate: "But Mahler's movements, in their entirety, are streams on which is borne whatever is caught in them, yet without its particularity being entirely absorbed." Theodor Adorno, Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy.
November 3, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Listening to Mahler 9, the first movement. This feels accurate: "But Mahler's movements, in their entirety, are streams on which is borne whatever is caught in them, yet without its particularity being entirely absorbed." Theodor Adorno, Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy.
"Here we go again..." Ukrainian Catholics react to Pope Leo's interview with Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse. It's for the best, they say, that Ukrainian media mostly ignored the interview. In "At the Edges, with Marc Loustau" on Substack.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/do-you-kno...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/do-you-kno...
November 1, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"Here we go again..." Ukrainian Catholics react to Pope Leo's interview with Crux: Taking the Catholic Pulse. It's for the best, they say, that Ukrainian media mostly ignored the interview. In "At the Edges, with Marc Loustau" on Substack.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/do-you-kno...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/do-you-kno...
I am a fellow at Central European University’s Institute for Advanced Study. The IAS coordinated my media appearances about the Trump-Putin Budapest summit. Now they’ve put the coverage my comments received on one site:
ias.ceu.edu/article/2025...
It’s a pleasure to be at @iasceu.bsky.social!
ias.ceu.edu/article/2025...
It’s a pleasure to be at @iasceu.bsky.social!
ias.ceu.edu
October 31, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I am a fellow at Central European University’s Institute for Advanced Study. The IAS coordinated my media appearances about the Trump-Putin Budapest summit. Now they’ve put the coverage my comments received on one site:
ias.ceu.edu/article/2025...
It’s a pleasure to be at @iasceu.bsky.social!
ias.ceu.edu/article/2025...
It’s a pleasure to be at @iasceu.bsky.social!
My friend and former Ukrainian teacher Maria Kosiychuk is organizing this exciting program. It'll be fun as well as educational. For anyone even just a little bit curious about Ukrainian, I highly recommend!
www.instagram.com/soft.sign.ua/
www.instagram.com/soft.sign.ua/
October 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
My friend and former Ukrainian teacher Maria Kosiychuk is organizing this exciting program. It'll be fun as well as educational. For anyone even just a little bit curious about Ukrainian, I highly recommend!
www.instagram.com/soft.sign.ua/
www.instagram.com/soft.sign.ua/
My commentary about the not-so-summit in regional news: Bosnian TV and a Slovak newspaper, Denník Sme.
Trump said a meeting is a waste of time. The only waste of time is Trump, and any effort by Europe to deal with him as a reliable ally.
n1info.ba/svijet/video...
svet.sme.sk/c/23558945/v...
Trump said a meeting is a waste of time. The only waste of time is Trump, and any effort by Europe to deal with him as a reliable ally.
n1info.ba/svijet/video...
svet.sme.sk/c/23558945/v...
VIDEO Ključ za zaustavljanje Putina na Balkanu:
Marc Loustau, pridruženi saradnik za Antropologiju i Religijske studije na CEU u Budimpešti, bez ustručavanja govori o spornim geopolitičkim vezama koje se plet
n1info.ba
October 22, 2025 at 2:51 PM
My commentary about the not-so-summit in regional news: Bosnian TV and a Slovak newspaper, Denník Sme.
Trump said a meeting is a waste of time. The only waste of time is Trump, and any effort by Europe to deal with him as a reliable ally.
n1info.ba/svijet/video...
svet.sme.sk/c/23558945/v...
Trump said a meeting is a waste of time. The only waste of time is Trump, and any effort by Europe to deal with him as a reliable ally.
n1info.ba/svijet/video...
svet.sme.sk/c/23558945/v...
The Budapest summit is off. Trump's reaction: He says a meeting is a "waste of time."
The only waste of time is Trump himself, and Europe's attempt to deal with him as a conventional, reliable ally.
My commentary in The Conversation UK. theconversation.com/trump-putin-...
The only waste of time is Trump himself, and Europe's attempt to deal with him as a conventional, reliable ally.
My commentary in The Conversation UK. theconversation.com/trump-putin-...
Trump-Putin Budapest summit would have posed threat to international rule of law and Ukraine’s relations with Hungary
The now-cancelled Budapest summit would have been, above all, a boon for Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán.
theconversation.com
October 22, 2025 at 4:41 AM
The Budapest summit is off. Trump's reaction: He says a meeting is a "waste of time."
The only waste of time is Trump himself, and Europe's attempt to deal with him as a conventional, reliable ally.
My commentary in The Conversation UK. theconversation.com/trump-putin-...
The only waste of time is Trump himself, and Europe's attempt to deal with him as a conventional, reliable ally.
My commentary in The Conversation UK. theconversation.com/trump-putin-...
I was on TV last night commenting about the Trump-Putin Budapest Summit and why the EU needs to show some backbone in response.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fzz...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fzz...
October 21, 2025 at 8:54 AM
I was on TV last night commenting about the Trump-Putin Budapest Summit and why the EU needs to show some backbone in response.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fzz...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fzz...
The Trump-Putin summit in Budapest is a threat to European unity. It could also seriously damage Hungary-Ukraine relations.
But Viktor Orbán's real challenge will be finding a place for these strongmen to have a good time.
“At the Edges, with Marc Loustau.”
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
But Viktor Orbán's real challenge will be finding a place for these strongmen to have a good time.
“At the Edges, with Marc Loustau.”
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
I predicted the Trump-Putin Budapest summit
But it's what I can't predict that scares me
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The Trump-Putin summit in Budapest is a threat to European unity. It could also seriously damage Hungary-Ukraine relations.
But Viktor Orbán's real challenge will be finding a place for these strongmen to have a good time.
“At the Edges, with Marc Loustau.”
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
But Viktor Orbán's real challenge will be finding a place for these strongmen to have a good time.
“At the Edges, with Marc Loustau.”
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
New York Times says President Trump will meet with Putin in **Budapest** to discuss Ukraine.
It's really strange to make a prediction and actually be right, but here we are. "Hungary’s ICC Exit Could Make Budapest a More Welcoming Place for Russians." By Marc Loustau, Balkan Insight, 4/30/2025.
It's really strange to make a prediction and actually be right, but here we are. "Hungary’s ICC Exit Could Make Budapest a More Welcoming Place for Russians." By Marc Loustau, Balkan Insight, 4/30/2025.
Hungary’s ICC Exit Could Make Budapest a More Welcoming Place for Russians
After Hungary’s exit from the ICC, Europe’s political leaders should ensure that Russia does not take advantage of this move to destabilise the rules-based international order.
balkaninsight.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:17 PM
New York Times says President Trump will meet with Putin in **Budapest** to discuss Ukraine.
It's really strange to make a prediction and actually be right, but here we are. "Hungary’s ICC Exit Could Make Budapest a More Welcoming Place for Russians." By Marc Loustau, Balkan Insight, 4/30/2025.
It's really strange to make a prediction and actually be right, but here we are. "Hungary’s ICC Exit Could Make Budapest a More Welcoming Place for Russians." By Marc Loustau, Balkan Insight, 4/30/2025.
For more than a year, a memorial to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny sat across the street from the Russian embassy in Budapest. Last week, vandals tore it down. Who did it? More importantly, who came together to put it back again?
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
Alexandr Navalny v. Hungary's Russian Embassy
Someone destroyed Budapest's memorial to the slain dissident
open.substack.com
September 26, 2025 at 5:24 AM
For more than a year, a memorial to Russian dissident Alexei Navalny sat across the street from the Russian embassy in Budapest. Last week, vandals tore it down. Who did it? More importantly, who came together to put it back again?
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
Ukrainian pastors, who fled cities now occupied by Russia, still keep in touch with church members who stayed behind. But why, when Russian police have threatened to arrest worshippers? From “At the Edges”: “Where Mother Mary is on the terror list.”
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/where-moth...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/where-moth...
September 23, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Ukrainian pastors, who fled cities now occupied by Russia, still keep in touch with church members who stayed behind. But why, when Russian police have threatened to arrest worshippers? From “At the Edges”: “Where Mother Mary is on the terror list.”
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/where-moth...
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/where-moth...
When does public Christianity become controversial? The latest addition to #Budapest's skyline is a test case.
My article in Balkan Insight: balkaninsight.com/2025/09/17/h...
My article in Balkan Insight: balkaninsight.com/2025/09/17/h...
Hungarians the Latest in Region to Have a New Cross to Bear
The new cross installed on Budapest’s Liberty Statue is just the latest of several such instances of governments or organisations in the region erecting Christian symbols in prominent and sometimes se...
balkaninsight.com
September 17, 2025 at 7:53 AM
When does public Christianity become controversial? The latest addition to #Budapest's skyline is a test case.
My article in Balkan Insight: balkaninsight.com/2025/09/17/h...
My article in Balkan Insight: balkaninsight.com/2025/09/17/h...
This New York Times article about Charlie Kirk is bad. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/u...
“At the Edges” newsletter today: "Political violence isn't uniquely American." Let's look outside our borders to understand what’s at stake in political violence.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/political-...
“At the Edges” newsletter today: "Political violence isn't uniquely American." Let's look outside our borders to understand what’s at stake in political violence.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/political-...
September 14, 2025 at 7:52 AM
This New York Times article about Charlie Kirk is bad. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/u...
“At the Edges” newsletter today: "Political violence isn't uniquely American." Let's look outside our borders to understand what’s at stake in political violence.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/political-...
“At the Edges” newsletter today: "Political violence isn't uniquely American." Let's look outside our borders to understand what’s at stake in political violence.
marcroscoeloustau.substack.com/p/political-...
"But to look at it from another angle - one can’t forget everything, however great one’s wish to do so; the plague was bound to leave traces, anyhow, in people’s hearts."
A. Camus, The Plague, p. 227
A. Camus, The Plague, p. 227
September 9, 2025 at 3:52 PM
"But to look at it from another angle - one can’t forget everything, however great one’s wish to do so; the plague was bound to leave traces, anyhow, in people’s hearts."
A. Camus, The Plague, p. 227
A. Camus, The Plague, p. 227
Why does a self-reflexive, anti-imperial leftist sign up for a foreign war that, if we’re completely honest, he doesn’t really understand? The author George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1984) posed this question to himself in 1938. I ask myself the same question today.
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
September 5, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Why does a self-reflexive, anti-imperial leftist sign up for a foreign war that, if we’re completely honest, he doesn’t really understand? The author George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1984) posed this question to himself in 1938. I ask myself the same question today.
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...
open.substack.com/pub/marcrosc...